Undergravel filters (Need advice and your thoughts)

[tcarswell]

But they get clogged up with crud on the return pipes brah.

Ive never had this happen it seems easy to fix though only needed every like 5 months. And yeah im getting an eheim but it couldnt hurt to have a UG as well right ? I keep the gravel clean vacuum it and I got extra bio filtration, I think ... could be wrong

 

[I<3fish]

Well it all depends on the bio load. With 3 gulper cats it isn't really needed for filtration.

 

[Bderick67]

But they get clogged up with crud on the return pipes brah.

The return pipes on UGFs don't get any more clogged then any inlet pipes on any HOB or canister. There is no magical filter that doesn't require some sort of periodic maintainence.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Regarding your question tcars, I would not use one myself because of the cons.
* Cleaning and maintanence=PiTA
* Not as efficient as other filters.
* Needs to be cleaned every month.

Honestly, have you really owned one? I think you are giving "monkey say monkey do" advise. It seems that from the posts that follow this one that you don't really have experience with UGF's or RUGF's and are only repeating what you have heard. If that is the case, you really owe it to the OP (or any OP for that matter) to inform him that your advise is conjecture and is not based on actual experience.

For what it is worth, all three statements above are false. Cleaning and maintenance is done with a gravel vac. If you have gravel you will have to vac it reguardless if it has UGF plates or not. The plates will not change the 'how', 'when', or 'why' of gravel vac-ing and it will not change the difficulty or frequency. What it will change is the ability of the gravel to participate in the nitrogen cycle and it will also prevent the gravel from sulfating.

 

[CHOMPERS]

I got a corrugated white under gravel filter today. I had to take out and clean and return my new 55gallon due to a hair line crack. So I got an undergravel filter and hooked up one side to a power head the other to a high powered air pump.
My question is how much gravel should I have over the UG filter and would you reccomend/ use one yourself ??

If the plates are connected, they should be given equal power on each riser. In other words, both power heads or both air stones. If they are not connected, then you are fine.

You can use reversable power heads to make it a RUGF. It keeps the gravel cleaner. You will need something else for a mechanical filter though.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Your UG set up will work fine. Go with about an 1" to 1 1/2" of gravel. Make sure you do a gravel vac every other week with water changes to keep it performing well.

 

[spiff]

UGF are awesome filters. The only clogging I have experienced is those cheap air defusers that they come with. I found its better to use an open ended air hose than those cheap defusers.

 

[tcarswell]

Honestly, have you really owned one? I think you are giving "monkey say monkey do" advise. It seems that from the posts that follow this one that you don't really have experience with UGF's or RUGF's and are only repeating what you have heard. If that is the case, you really owe it to the OP (or any OP for that matter) to inform him that your advise is conjecture and is not based on actual experience.

For what it is worth, all three statements above are false. Cleaning and maintenance is done with a gravel vac. If you have gravel you will have to vac it reguardless if it has UGF plates or not. The plates will not change the 'how', 'when', or 'why' of gravel vac-ing and it will not change the difficulty or frequency. What it will change is the ability of the gravel to participate in the nitrogen cycle and it will also prevent the gravel from sulfating.

Thanks so much for clarifying that. And thanks to everyone else for sharing your experience I greatly appreciate it.

 

[CHOMPERS]

UGF are awesome filters. The only clogging I have experienced is those cheap air defusers that they come with. I found its better to use an open ended air hose than those cheap defusers.

I toss them too, but I replace them with air stones. With air stones you get more lift and water flow. You'll need to shorten the rigid air tube and then use a half inch piece of air hose to connect the air stone.

 

[dogofwar]

I'm not a fan of undergravel filters and quit using them in the late '80s.

Over time gunk collects under the plates...which means that you'll either have to live with an ever increasing nitrate source or use airline tubing or the like to clean it out.

The alternative is to use reverse powerheads and set up a reverse UGF (pushes water up through gravel).

For messy fish like gulpers I'd go with a sprinkling or gravel or sand (easy to clean) and big HOBs...or better yet a sump.